Expression of chemokine receptors on Th17 cell in peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the expression of chemokine receptors CCR4,CCR6,CXCR3 on Th17 cell,and analyze the correlation between chemokine receptors and serum biochemical parameters of liver function test and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA load in peripheral blood of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.Methods Thirty patients with CHB (CHB group) and 15 healthy persons (control group) were enrolled in the study.CCR4,CCR6,CXCR3 expression levels on Th17 cell were assayed by flow cytometry.The correlation between chemokine receptors and alanine aminotransferase (ALT),total bilirubin (TBil),and HBV DNA load were analyzed using Pearson' s correlation analysis,respectively.Results CCR4,CCR6,CXCR3 expression levels on CD4 + Th17 cell in CHB group were higher than that of control group.Moreover,the difference between them was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).CCR4,CCR6 expression levels on CD8 + Th17 cell in CHB group were higher than that of control group (P ＜ 0.05).Although CXCR3 expression level on CD8 + Th17 cell in CHB group was higher than that of control group,there was no significant difference between them (P ＞ 0.05).CCR4,CCR6 expression levels were positively correlated with serum ALT,HBV DNA load,respectively (P ＜ 0.05),but were not correlated with TBil (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Expression levels of chemokine receptor on Th17 cell were increased in patients with CHB and were positively associated with degree of liver inflammation.Therefore,CCR4,CCR6 expression on Th17 cell might be involved in liver injury resulted from Th17 cell. Key words: Hepatitis B chronic;  Chemokines